1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device for indicating operation modes set in a picture taking device such as a photographic camera which controls exposure in a plurality of modes such as a programmed automatic exposure control mode (hereinafter referred to as P-mode), a diaphragm priority automatic exposure time control mode (hereinafter referred to as A-mode), an exposure time or shutter speed priority automatic diaphragm control mode (hereinafter referred to as S-mode) and a manual exposure control mode (hereinafter referred to as M-mode), or an automatic film wind-up device which drives a film wind-up and shutter mechanism in a camera in a continuous exposure mode and a one shot exposure mode. It should be noted that the term picture taking device should be read hereinafter to include various devices for use in picture taking, i.e. not only a photographic camera but also its accessories such as a motor driven wind-up device and a flash device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Most picture taking devices are designed to operate in various modes any one of which is selected by a change-over operation, and to display the selected operation mode. Heretofore, the operation mode is mainly indicated by a mark. However, as the number of operation modes to be effected increases, the kinds of marks to be displayed increases so that it becomes difficult to understand and distinguish the meaning of the marks. Hence, it has been desired that the display is made in a form which definitely shows its meaning and is easily understood by the user. Taking the display of exposure control modes, it is difficult for the user to understand the definite property of an individual exposure control mode when the modes are indicated by initials "P", "A", "S" and "M" of the term properly showing the control modes. Especially, in the case of indicating the P-mode which is most frequently used in practice and is significant, it is favorable to the user if the P-mode is indicated by the full letters "PROGRAM" rather than by its initial "P" as is done for A-, S- and M-modes. The user can understand the definite property of the P-mode from the full letter indication. However, as the display device is located on a part of the surface of a picture taking device, it is difficult from the technical view point to assign as-much-as-possible space to the display device. Hence, if it is contemplated that full letters are displayed for the P-mode and only the initial is displayed for each of the other modes in the same limited space, the letters for the indication of the P-mode must be extremely small in size so that the unbalance of the letter size between the display for the P-mode and the display for the other modes will be seen as unnatural by the user. This problem may be avoided if the displays for the P-mode and the other modes are to be made in different spaces which are adjacent to each other. However, such a display is unfavorable not only because it requires a large space for both displays but also because the displays for the P-mode and the other modes appear at different locations in spite of the fact that they indicate the same kind of camera operation, i.e. the exposure control mode. Owing to the above discussed problem, no satisfactory exposure control mode display device for picture taking devices has been proposed.